Process Equipment Design, Applications, Maintenance and Troubleshooting: Rules of Thumb for Process Engineers

Introduction

Chemical Engineers are at the forefront of creating and developing processes and products.  They are operating at the leading edge of technology and they are the minds and backbone of the process industry.  All engineers, in general, employ mathematics, physics and engineering art to overcome technical problems in a safe and economical fashion.  Yet, it is the chemical engineer alone that draws upon the vast and powerful science of chemistry to solve a wide range of problems.  The strong technical and social ties that bind chemistry and chemical engineering are unique in the fields of science and technology.  The breadth of scientific and technical knowledge inherent in the profession has caused some to describe the chemical engineer as the “Universal Engineer”.  Despite a title that suggests a profession composed of narrow specialists, chemical engineers are actually extremely versatile and able to handle a wide range of technical problems

The rule of thumb is defined as “a rough guest mate measure, practice or experience, as distinct from theory”.  Engineers need such rules of thumb to guide decisions, set goals, and check results.  Some believe that providing a collection of rules of thumb is dangerous because engineers might forsake the fundamentals and place too much emphasis on order-of-magnitude estimates.  However, it was found for problem-solving in industry, for design, for process improvement, and for troubleshooting that rules of thumb are not dangerous but they are very essential.

This state-of-the-art workshop is designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of process equipment design concepts and techniques. Process design methods and criteria are presented and discussed to familiarize engineers with practical techniques for selection, sizing and design of process equipment for refineries, petrochemical and related oil and gas processing plants. During the workshop period, participants will be trained on short-cut methods, rules-of-thumb and example problems on the workshop topics, which include:-

• Process Design, Categories & Constraints
• Hydrocarbon Properties, Parameters and Definitions
• Development of Process Design Data & Methods
• Engineering Flow Diagrams & Specifications
• Sizing, Selection & Design of Major Process Equipment
• Mechanical & Safety Aspects
• Cost Estimating
• Process Design Specification Packages

Objectives

This course is designed to provide chemical and process engineers with a lot of common sense techniques, shortcuts and calculations to quickly and accurately solve day-to-day design, operations and equipment problems.  The practical tips, handy formulas, correlations, curves, charts, tables, and shortcut methods presented in this course will save engineers valuable time and effort.    This course covers rules of thumb applicable to Fluid flow, Heat exchangers, Fractionators, Absorbers, Pumps, Drivers, Separators/accumulators, Boilers & Cooling towers

• Calculate, evaluate and compile basic process data essential for the design of process equipment and plant.
• Acquire enhanced skills and knowledge of process design methods and calculation procedures (including use of practical short-cut techniques), application of criteria for sizing and design of process equipment and perform evaluations of existing equipment designs and revamp methods.
• Prepare a comprehensive Process Design Specification document package.
• Prepare to scope cost estimates and conduct evaluations of equipment and contractors’ design proposals
• Maintain and troubleshoot process equipment and solve their related problems  

Training Methodology

This is an interactive course. There will be open question and answer sessions, regular group exercises and activities, videos, case studies, and presentations on best practice. Participants will have the opportunity to share with the facilitator and other participants on what works well and not so well for them, as well as work on issues from their own organizations. The online course is conducted online using MS-Teams/ClickMeeting.

Who Should Attend?

This course is designed for process, maintenance, production, operations, plant and field managers, superintendents, supervisors, engineers, technicians and operators.  This is also applicable to plant and shift foremen as well as to other technical staff

Course Outline

Upon the successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:-

• Apply the rules of thumb for chemical and process engineering including fluid flow, gas flow, velocity head, piping pressure, compressible flow, sonic velocity, metering and valves
• Employ the rules of thumb for heat exchangers and command the TEMA standards and selection guides
• Perform rules of thumb for fractionators & absorbers and explain their design, control schemes & optimization techniques
• Use the rules of thumb for pumps including affinity laws, horsepower, efficiency minimum flow & suction system and recognize the various construction materials used in pumps
• Implement the rules of thumb for drivers and determine their ranges of application, efficiency & service factors
• Apply rules of thumb for separators/accumulators such as liquid & vapour residence time, calculation methods, pressure drop, vessel thickness, gas scrubbers & reflux drums and employ the general vessel design tips
• Carry out the rules of thumb for boilers and acquire knowledge on thermal efficiency, stack gas enthalpy & quantity, steam drum stability, blowdown control, caustic embrittlement, etc
• Perform rules of thumb for cooling towers and analyze its system balances, temperature data & transfer units.